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From Here to Nirvana
A guide for beginners through seasoned practitioners is a one-stop resource on the art of pilgrimage that includes coverage of yogis, temples, food, and spiritual locales from the Himalayas to the Malabar coast. Reprint.
432 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Anne Cushman
13 books29 followers As a writer and teacher of yoga and Buddhist meditation, Anne Cushman explores the poignant intersection between the inspirational ideals of spiritual practice and the gritty, comical, chaotic, and heartbreaking details of ordinary life.
Anne has been investigating the relationship between Eastern spiritual traditions and contemporary Western life for more than 25 years. She graduated from Princeton University with a BA in comparative religion in 1984, and her work includes the NEH-funded documentary Zen Center: Portrait of an American Zen Community (1986); the nonfiction “spiritual India” guidebook From Here to Nirvana (1998); and the novel Enlightenment for Idiots (2008), which was named by Booklist as one of the “Top Ten First Novels” of the year. Her book Moving Into Meditation: A 12-Week Mindfulness Program for Yoga Practitioners will be published by Shambhala in 2014.
Anne is a longtime contributor and former editor at both Yoga Journal and Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Her personal essays have also appeared in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, O: The Oprah Magazine, Salon.com, New Woman, and the Shambhala Sun. Her work has been anthologized in Best Buddhist Writing 2004 and 2006; Best Women’s Spiritual Travel Writing; Traveling Souls: Contemporary Pilgrimage Tales; and other books.
Anne’s yoga and meditation background includes extensive training across multiple schools of yoga since 1985, including Iyengar, Ashtanga, Kripalu, Insight Yoga, and many other styles. She has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1983 in both the Zen and vipassana traditions, and is the co-director of the Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, where she is also a graduate of the Community Dharma Leader program.
Anne teaches yoga as a support for and an expression of embodied meditative presence. Through sensitive, flowing practice, she invites her students to relax and enliven their bodies, open their hearts, and unwind the physical and energetic obstacles that prevent them from touching their true nature—in the midst of their ordinary and miraculous human lives.
She lives in Fairfax, California, with her twelve-year-old son, Skye Hawthorne.
Anne has been investigating the relationship between Eastern spiritual traditions and contemporary Western life for more than 25 years. She graduated from Princeton University with a BA in comparative religion in 1984, and her work includes the NEH-funded documentary Zen Center: Portrait of an American Zen Community (1986); the nonfiction “spiritual India” guidebook From Here to Nirvana (1998); and the novel Enlightenment for Idiots (2008), which was named by Booklist as one of the “Top Ten First Novels” of the year. Her book Moving Into Meditation: A 12-Week Mindfulness Program for Yoga Practitioners will be published by Shambhala in 2014.
Anne is a longtime contributor and former editor at both Yoga Journal and Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Her personal essays have also appeared in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, O: The Oprah Magazine, Salon.com, New Woman, and the Shambhala Sun. Her work has been anthologized in Best Buddhist Writing 2004 and 2006; Best Women’s Spiritual Travel Writing; Traveling Souls: Contemporary Pilgrimage Tales; and other books.
Anne’s yoga and meditation background includes extensive training across multiple schools of yoga since 1985, including Iyengar, Ashtanga, Kripalu, Insight Yoga, and many other styles. She has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1983 in both the Zen and vipassana traditions, and is the co-director of the Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, where she is also a graduate of the Community Dharma Leader program.
Anne teaches yoga as a support for and an expression of embodied meditative presence. Through sensitive, flowing practice, she invites her students to relax and enliven their bodies, open their hearts, and unwind the physical and energetic obstacles that prevent them from touching their true nature—in the midst of their ordinary and miraculous human lives.
She lives in Fairfax, California, with her twelve-year-old son, Skye Hawthorne.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 10, 2026
AN OVERVIEW OF VARIOUS ASHRAMS, TRAINING CENTERS, ETC., FOR EASTERN SPIRITUAL PATHS
Anne Cushman teaches Yoga and meditation, and is a former editor of ‘Yoga Journal’ and 'Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.’ Jerry Jones has done a lot of different and interesting things.
They wrote in the introductory chapter, 'Welcome to India,’ of this 1998 book, “this book is inherently random. Trying to describe all the ashrams, saints, and holy sites of India would be like trying to list all the malls in the United States… we’re simply offering you what we know about the places we’ve been to---with a little bit of hearsay about places we’ve heard of but haven’t visited ourselves… This guidebook is not comprehensive. Spirituality is all-pervasive in India… the main section of our introductory guidebook focuses primarily on established institutions---ashrams, yoga schools, meditation centers, and places of service where you can go to formally study and practice India’s ancient spiritual paths. We’ve chosen places where foreigners are welcome and where, for the most part, someone can be found who speaks English. Many of the centers we’ve featured are the Indian headquarters for groups that are already established in the West… Naturally… Some might argue that the purest forms of Indian spirituality can only be found in the most traditional ashrams, where English isn’t spoken and you must be an orthodox Hindu to enter. Others would say that … you’ll have to head for the hills to track down a baba in a remote Himalayan cave.” (Pg. 4-5)
They acknowledge, “In reality, unfortunately, some so-called gurus may be less than fully awakened… Western newspapers have reported on an epidemic of scandals involving teachers from almost every spiritual tradition. And fallen gurus are not confined to the West---'India Today' recently reported on one well-known Indian teacher who was jailed after gold bullion and two dead bodies were found at his ashram.” (Pg. 27)
They report, “With over ten million devotees worldwide---and 1,638 centers in 137 countries---Sathya Sai Baba is undoubtedly the most famous of India’s living gurus. He’s believed by his disciples to be an avatar, a human incarnation of God… His main ashram … has grown to the size of a small well-regimented city, where thousands of people come every day in quest of miracles and blessings.” (Pg. 69)
They explain, “For devotees of Mata Amritanandamayi---known to millions worldwide as ‘Ammachi,’ or ‘darling Mother’… Ammachi, they say, is the embodiment of Devi, the Divine Mother of the Universe… At her ashram… thousands of people from around the world come to experience her unique darshan, in which she holds each devotee in her arms like a mother embracing a child… Ammachi’s principal teaching is not her words, but the experience of being with her.” (Pg. 168)
They continue, “The ecstasy reaches peak levels on Thursday and Sunday nights, during… a ritual in which Ammachi dresses in a spectacular costume and crown, enters a trance, and assumes the form of the Divine Mother. On these days… so many thousands of Indians come that they must be given tickets to get their hugs. (Foreigners, though, don’t have to wait in the main line: you can enter through the side doors of the inner temple, where Amma is sitting.)” (Pg. 169-170)
They report, “Followers of Meher Baba consider him not just a guru, saint, or teacher, but ‘The Avatar’: a manifestation of God in human form who is born again and again to awaken living beings to divine love. For ‘Baba lovers,’ as devotees call themselves, Meher Baba is identical with Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Jesus, and other divine incarnations. Meher Baba died in 1969, but Baba lovers still congregate at his … community, to visit his samadhi shrine, study and discuss his teachings, and celebrate his life through music, poetry, dance, and drama… Love was Meher Baba’s primary message. For the last 44 years of his life, he lived and taught without speaking, communicating only through gestures and letters pointed to on an alphabet board… Today, most of the pilgrims who visit … are upper-middle-class Westerners, primarily Americans….” (Pg. 175-176)
They state, “In Siddha Yoga, Self-realization is achieved through the awakening of the intense spiritual energy called ‘kundalini shakti’… In the 1970s, Swami Muktananda brought these teachings to the West, planning to start a ‘meditation revolution.’ … His SYDA (Siddha Yoga Dham of America) Foundation became one of the wealthiest and most popular of the West’s blossoming Eastern spiritual groups. (Before his death, however, he was dogged by widely publicized accusations of sexual activities with female disciples, which most devotees vigorously deny.)” (Pg. 194)
They observe, “the Osho Commune International---founded nearly 25 years ago by Osho, the controversial guru formerly known as the Bhagwah Shree Ranjeesh---is not your typical Indian ashram… Osho’s career as a spiritual teacher began in the mid-1960s, when he left his post as a philosophy professor… and began traveling around India… By the early 1970s, Western visitors were flooding into his newly formed Pune commune… In 1981 Osho moved to the United States, where he and his followers established a small city … on a 64,000 acre ranch in Oregon. However, Rajneeshpuram foundered amid internal intrigue and escalating conflicts with the surrounding community, and in 1985 Osho was convicted of immigration fraud… and deported from the United States… he returned to his ashram in Pune, where he died in early 1990. Today, the Osho Commune International rivals the Taj Mahal as one of India’s largest tourist attractions, with thousands of visitors every day.” (Pg. 215-216)
They explain, “Over a million people belong to one of the sects of the Radha Soami movement, an offshoot of Sikhism whose primary teaching is ‘surat shabd yoga,’ a meditation on inner light and sound… The Radha Soami movement was started in 1861 by a retired moneylender and mystic named Shiv Dayal Singh, who initiated his followers into a secret set of spiritual disciplines designed to help the practitioner connect with the blissful divine energy known as Radha Soami (literally, ‘the Lord of the Soul’)… To learn the specific techniques … you have to be initiated by an authorized representative… the current guru… keeps a deliberately low profile… Despite these restrictions… the RSSB has grown to be a large international organization, with about a thousand centers in India and 300 more worldwide.” (Pg. 233-234)
They report, “the Brahma Kumaris---literally, ‘the daughters of Brahma’---are a booming organization… The central teachings of the Brahma Kumaris hold that there is only one God, the incorporeal, changeless, and eternal ‘Mother-Father of all souls', and that we can develop a ‘spiritual love-link’ with God through the practice of ‘Raja Yoga Meditation’… a simple, practical method of turning the mind inward and focusing on your true identity as a pure peaceful soul.” (Pg. 239-240)
They state, “The Benedictine monks at Saccidananda Ashram describe themselves as ‘Christian sannyasis’---they dress in the saffron robes of Hindu ascetics, walk barefoot and eat sitting on the floor, and study Vedanta and yoga as thoroughly as the ‘Rule of St. Benedict.’ Their rustic ashram---for many years the home of Father Bede Griffiths, a famous pioneer of Hindu-Christian dialogue---is meant to be ‘a place of meeting for Hindus and Christians and people of all religions or none, who are genuinely seeking God.’” (Pg. 244)
They say, “The Vasanta Vihar Study Centre was inspired by Krishnamurti’s vision of ‘a place of learning and austere living with inward discipline and work, without a guru, without a leader, and without a system of meditation of working.” (Pg. 254)
They report. “The aim of Aurobindo’s ‘integral yoga’ is not to transcend the limited body, mind, and world in quest of spiritual perfection; but rather, to ‘draw down’ the divine energy---in a form he calls the Supramental---to create ‘a divine life in Matter.’ His ashram is intended as a laboratory for that work, which he referred to as ‘the yoga of our cells.’ … Founded in the 1920s, Aurobindo’s ashram stopped accepting new members in the 1960s, and there is no structured program of spiritual instruction or practice for visitors.” (Pg. 271)
They observe, “The Mother---a French-born psychic and occultist who became the senior disciple of the revolutionary-turned-yogi Sri Aurobindo---launched the utopian community of Auroville in 1968… Today, Auroville is an ongoing experiment in communal and ecological living, where about a thousand residents from thirty countries are working together to transform 2,600 acres of eroded and deforested wasteland into a green and self-sufficient community.” (Pg. 276) Later, they add, Unfortunately, Auroville is not yet self-sufficient---you will need a significant outside income in order to live there and eventually build a house. Plan on working and contributing significantly to the community—Aurovillians don’t look kindly on those who view it as a kind of New Age retirement home.” (Pg. 278-279)
They say of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), “Dismayed by what he saw as India’s drift away from the traditional devotional values toward the lure of the materialistic West, Swami Prabhupada became convinced that the way to set India back on the way to God was to persuade Westerners to walk that path… he took his message to the United States, where ‘Krishna Consciousness’ captured the imagination of the emerging counterculture… Tens of thousands of young people---including George Harrison---became his devotees, captivated by the idea of chanting and dancing their way to a permanent high.” (Pg. 369-370)
They state, “The Yogoda Satsanda Society is the Indian wing of the Self-Realization Fellowship, the worldwide organization founded by [Paramahansa] Yogananda… it’s primarily a training facility for Indian male renunciates… However, foreigners are welcome…” (Pg. 390-391)
This guide will be of keen interest to those studying Eastern religions, of the less-‘mainstream’ sort.
Anne Cushman teaches Yoga and meditation, and is a former editor of ‘Yoga Journal’ and 'Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.’ Jerry Jones has done a lot of different and interesting things.
They wrote in the introductory chapter, 'Welcome to India,’ of this 1998 book, “this book is inherently random. Trying to describe all the ashrams, saints, and holy sites of India would be like trying to list all the malls in the United States… we’re simply offering you what we know about the places we’ve been to---with a little bit of hearsay about places we’ve heard of but haven’t visited ourselves… This guidebook is not comprehensive. Spirituality is all-pervasive in India… the main section of our introductory guidebook focuses primarily on established institutions---ashrams, yoga schools, meditation centers, and places of service where you can go to formally study and practice India’s ancient spiritual paths. We’ve chosen places where foreigners are welcome and where, for the most part, someone can be found who speaks English. Many of the centers we’ve featured are the Indian headquarters for groups that are already established in the West… Naturally… Some might argue that the purest forms of Indian spirituality can only be found in the most traditional ashrams, where English isn’t spoken and you must be an orthodox Hindu to enter. Others would say that … you’ll have to head for the hills to track down a baba in a remote Himalayan cave.” (Pg. 4-5)
They acknowledge, “In reality, unfortunately, some so-called gurus may be less than fully awakened… Western newspapers have reported on an epidemic of scandals involving teachers from almost every spiritual tradition. And fallen gurus are not confined to the West---'India Today' recently reported on one well-known Indian teacher who was jailed after gold bullion and two dead bodies were found at his ashram.” (Pg. 27)
They report, “With over ten million devotees worldwide---and 1,638 centers in 137 countries---Sathya Sai Baba is undoubtedly the most famous of India’s living gurus. He’s believed by his disciples to be an avatar, a human incarnation of God… His main ashram … has grown to the size of a small well-regimented city, where thousands of people come every day in quest of miracles and blessings.” (Pg. 69)
They explain, “For devotees of Mata Amritanandamayi---known to millions worldwide as ‘Ammachi,’ or ‘darling Mother’… Ammachi, they say, is the embodiment of Devi, the Divine Mother of the Universe… At her ashram… thousands of people from around the world come to experience her unique darshan, in which she holds each devotee in her arms like a mother embracing a child… Ammachi’s principal teaching is not her words, but the experience of being with her.” (Pg. 168)
They continue, “The ecstasy reaches peak levels on Thursday and Sunday nights, during… a ritual in which Ammachi dresses in a spectacular costume and crown, enters a trance, and assumes the form of the Divine Mother. On these days… so many thousands of Indians come that they must be given tickets to get their hugs. (Foreigners, though, don’t have to wait in the main line: you can enter through the side doors of the inner temple, where Amma is sitting.)” (Pg. 169-170)
They report, “Followers of Meher Baba consider him not just a guru, saint, or teacher, but ‘The Avatar’: a manifestation of God in human form who is born again and again to awaken living beings to divine love. For ‘Baba lovers,’ as devotees call themselves, Meher Baba is identical with Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Jesus, and other divine incarnations. Meher Baba died in 1969, but Baba lovers still congregate at his … community, to visit his samadhi shrine, study and discuss his teachings, and celebrate his life through music, poetry, dance, and drama… Love was Meher Baba’s primary message. For the last 44 years of his life, he lived and taught without speaking, communicating only through gestures and letters pointed to on an alphabet board… Today, most of the pilgrims who visit … are upper-middle-class Westerners, primarily Americans….” (Pg. 175-176)
They state, “In Siddha Yoga, Self-realization is achieved through the awakening of the intense spiritual energy called ‘kundalini shakti’… In the 1970s, Swami Muktananda brought these teachings to the West, planning to start a ‘meditation revolution.’ … His SYDA (Siddha Yoga Dham of America) Foundation became one of the wealthiest and most popular of the West’s blossoming Eastern spiritual groups. (Before his death, however, he was dogged by widely publicized accusations of sexual activities with female disciples, which most devotees vigorously deny.)” (Pg. 194)
They observe, “the Osho Commune International---founded nearly 25 years ago by Osho, the controversial guru formerly known as the Bhagwah Shree Ranjeesh---is not your typical Indian ashram… Osho’s career as a spiritual teacher began in the mid-1960s, when he left his post as a philosophy professor… and began traveling around India… By the early 1970s, Western visitors were flooding into his newly formed Pune commune… In 1981 Osho moved to the United States, where he and his followers established a small city … on a 64,000 acre ranch in Oregon. However, Rajneeshpuram foundered amid internal intrigue and escalating conflicts with the surrounding community, and in 1985 Osho was convicted of immigration fraud… and deported from the United States… he returned to his ashram in Pune, where he died in early 1990. Today, the Osho Commune International rivals the Taj Mahal as one of India’s largest tourist attractions, with thousands of visitors every day.” (Pg. 215-216)
They explain, “Over a million people belong to one of the sects of the Radha Soami movement, an offshoot of Sikhism whose primary teaching is ‘surat shabd yoga,’ a meditation on inner light and sound… The Radha Soami movement was started in 1861 by a retired moneylender and mystic named Shiv Dayal Singh, who initiated his followers into a secret set of spiritual disciplines designed to help the practitioner connect with the blissful divine energy known as Radha Soami (literally, ‘the Lord of the Soul’)… To learn the specific techniques … you have to be initiated by an authorized representative… the current guru… keeps a deliberately low profile… Despite these restrictions… the RSSB has grown to be a large international organization, with about a thousand centers in India and 300 more worldwide.” (Pg. 233-234)
They report, “the Brahma Kumaris---literally, ‘the daughters of Brahma’---are a booming organization… The central teachings of the Brahma Kumaris hold that there is only one God, the incorporeal, changeless, and eternal ‘Mother-Father of all souls', and that we can develop a ‘spiritual love-link’ with God through the practice of ‘Raja Yoga Meditation’… a simple, practical method of turning the mind inward and focusing on your true identity as a pure peaceful soul.” (Pg. 239-240)
They state, “The Benedictine monks at Saccidananda Ashram describe themselves as ‘Christian sannyasis’---they dress in the saffron robes of Hindu ascetics, walk barefoot and eat sitting on the floor, and study Vedanta and yoga as thoroughly as the ‘Rule of St. Benedict.’ Their rustic ashram---for many years the home of Father Bede Griffiths, a famous pioneer of Hindu-Christian dialogue---is meant to be ‘a place of meeting for Hindus and Christians and people of all religions or none, who are genuinely seeking God.’” (Pg. 244)
They say, “The Vasanta Vihar Study Centre was inspired by Krishnamurti’s vision of ‘a place of learning and austere living with inward discipline and work, without a guru, without a leader, and without a system of meditation of working.” (Pg. 254)
They report. “The aim of Aurobindo’s ‘integral yoga’ is not to transcend the limited body, mind, and world in quest of spiritual perfection; but rather, to ‘draw down’ the divine energy---in a form he calls the Supramental---to create ‘a divine life in Matter.’ His ashram is intended as a laboratory for that work, which he referred to as ‘the yoga of our cells.’ … Founded in the 1920s, Aurobindo’s ashram stopped accepting new members in the 1960s, and there is no structured program of spiritual instruction or practice for visitors.” (Pg. 271)
They observe, “The Mother---a French-born psychic and occultist who became the senior disciple of the revolutionary-turned-yogi Sri Aurobindo---launched the utopian community of Auroville in 1968… Today, Auroville is an ongoing experiment in communal and ecological living, where about a thousand residents from thirty countries are working together to transform 2,600 acres of eroded and deforested wasteland into a green and self-sufficient community.” (Pg. 276) Later, they add, Unfortunately, Auroville is not yet self-sufficient---you will need a significant outside income in order to live there and eventually build a house. Plan on working and contributing significantly to the community—Aurovillians don’t look kindly on those who view it as a kind of New Age retirement home.” (Pg. 278-279)
They say of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), “Dismayed by what he saw as India’s drift away from the traditional devotional values toward the lure of the materialistic West, Swami Prabhupada became convinced that the way to set India back on the way to God was to persuade Westerners to walk that path… he took his message to the United States, where ‘Krishna Consciousness’ captured the imagination of the emerging counterculture… Tens of thousands of young people---including George Harrison---became his devotees, captivated by the idea of chanting and dancing their way to a permanent high.” (Pg. 369-370)
They state, “The Yogoda Satsanda Society is the Indian wing of the Self-Realization Fellowship, the worldwide organization founded by [Paramahansa] Yogananda… it’s primarily a training facility for Indian male renunciates… However, foreigners are welcome…” (Pg. 390-391)
This guide will be of keen interest to those studying Eastern religions, of the less-‘mainstream’ sort.
December 17, 2007
I can't wait for my month in India - not sure when that will be yet, but I will definitely have this book with me.
January 22, 2021
This book was extremely useful when I planned a visit to an ashram in India some 15 years ago, and used this book to choose where I would land. It's over 20 years old now, but I think would still be helpful to be able to browse through to get an overview, and then info could be updated by looking up places online.
January 11, 2019
I bought this book after reading it,, as it will be such a great resource for planning for next trip to India. Lots is outdated, but hey, things move slowly in the ashram world so it will still be relevant. This is a guide to ashrams and spiritual centers around India. LOVE IT!!!!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews